Thursday, April 29, 2010

Late night lockdown

These street games are EVERYWHERE. and i seriously can't resist playing most of them.

The other night, I went over to a friends house to hang out for a bit before going home, and like a responsible person, I checked to find out when my last train time was and left in time to catch it. I've heard whispers of the unreliability of the Korean transit system, but experienced it firsthand when I found myself literally stuck halfway between my place and hers when the trains just suddenly stopped operating.
I was left in one of the worst possible areas - meaning I was completely safe (this country is amazing in that regard), but I was in an area where there were no buses that went to my part of town. I know this because a random guy stopped to help me, and even called his brother to have him check any possible routes home on the internet for me. So the best he could do was help me find a bus that at least went closer to my neck of the woods, where I could then catch a taxi from, so on I hopped. Another couple helped point me in the right direction from the window of the bus, but since I was a little unsure when I got off, I asked two guys who were just literally standing around if they knew which way I should head, since I didn't really have any intention whatsoever to pay for a taxi. They told me they were waiting for their cousin, but once she got there one of them could drive me there, since he was headed that way; and lo and behold, two minutes later I'm in this guys car being driven right to my building, and they even tried to give me one of their coffee drinks they had just bought for themselves on top of all of that.

This country never ceases to amaze me, just as it has done to many a foreigner in the past. They constantly change schedules, and meticulously organised plans go out the window at the drop of a hat; they rush around to get somewhere, and tell you to hurry constantly, just so you can find yourself waiting for an hour because they decided something and forgot to let you in. You kill time just to find out later that they have something so important for you to do, right when you have the least amount of time or energy available. It's completely baffling, but it makes me laugh and totally keeps me on my toes.
 These boys were sneaking around the alleys when I snuck this shot. They must have been smoking because they actually yelped a little in surprise.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

in pursuit of Ultima thule


Two boys in Insadong. Totally didn't notice me.

Last night was my first time at a Jin jul bang, or a public bath house as we in Western Society tend to know them, although few of us seem to have ever ventured inside of their mysterious walls. My friend and I even had trouble convincing two of our other friends (one Russian and one American) to join us, and despite our best efforts at pursuasion, both seemed completely mired in the mindset that it was mostly just group nudity, segregated from the opposite sex. I for one just had to check it out, regardless of what we were about to face. It turned out to be clothed - mostly. The hot and cold saunas, the sweat saunas, the oxygen room, the gym, the hot salt room and massage area ( also luckily the cafeteria and computer room are also in this list) are all clothed. Only the change room, showers and hot pools are designated nude areas. If you want a full body exfolation or your eyeybrows plucked, this is also in the same vacinity, so those little less comfortable might also opt to do these types of things for themselves at home.

As for the home front, since I am currently trying to learn to skateboard, Ee-mo-nim came outside with me the other night to ' see what I've got', and ended up playing on the playground next to the
basketball court I was on! We went on her favourite from when she was a kid; a kind of rope balanced game with plastic discs to step on, and for the life of me, I could not get her to do anymore other than a
slight attempt at the rope ladder! Pretty rockin for 50years old!!

 Vendors at the street markets between Dongdaemun and Shinseouldong

Today we went to something called the Dream Forest in the north eastern part of the city, a kind of park, with a man made pond sporting a fountain from the centre, as well as winding paths and
trees in full cherry blosom bloom. They also have a petting zoo, which was temporarily closed, but it was na magical little place nonetheless! It was a girls 12th birthday who we were out wig for the
day, so we had a kim bap and fruit picnic with a GIANT cake to top it all off. So much cake that we not only had enough to completely satisfy everyone in our 19 people strong group, but also three other families and a group of 30 kids. Seriously, don't ask me how that was all possible. Some of the kids even had seconds!

I love the random characters here

Ultima thule
1.
the highest degree attainable.
2.the farthest point; the limit of any journey.
3.the point believed by the ancients to be farthest north.

Monday, April 19, 2010

two weeks in

Cult Skate Park in Seoul
So, as of friday, I hit two weeks since my arrival in Korea.
I hopped on some buses I didn't know the destination of, and ended up walking all over town, heading to some fun places, exploring in small old alleys, and finding a good cheap coffee shop near my place as well!
Friday, I went with my friend to get a tattoo (Korea Tattoo). It was a legit looking place, and seemed un-sketchy, like some of the other tattoo places around this place. It takes a while, because they draw it up and do it on you all at the set time of your appointment, and is also more expensive than it is in Canada (min. cost here is $150), but if you want a lasting momento from Korea, then who cares, right!?


On Saturday, we went to go watch a skateboarding demo with some friends, and that was super awesome. It was a Volcom Skate tour...but in all honesty, I think a lot of the guys were feelin a bit rough from the party they had the night before out in Hongdae, haha. It was awesome though, we skated around for a few hours ....I am totally a beginner, and so I bailed about three times...and am still sore for it. ha.
 But then we went with some friends we met that day to grab some beer, and then headed to a NoLeh Bang after that - a small private karaoke room! $5 gets you a beer and an hour in these rooms. So the seven of us piled in and sang our hearts out! It was definitely one of the most fun days I've had since I've been in Korea!

Check it out for yourself!

.Sweet, sweet singing.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Take a rest

Koreans love to sleep.
Anywhere.
On the bus, on the street, at the bar, you name it. There is even a blog dedicated to it (http://blackoutkorea.blogspot.com/)


Today was my first day skateboarding in Korea! I went to the dongdaemun skate park [컬트 스케이트 파크(Cult skate park)‎], then along the Cheonggyecheon in Seoul. So basically this is a reclaimed part of the city that was once covered over by a road! It's a lowered walkway area along-side a lovely little stream that is one of the only calm areas in this city of nearly 10million people. Bumpy ride, but fun nonetheless. It was nice not to be near the cars, as I'm not a stellar skater. 
I just drank beer and had dried squid with 이모부 (phonetically, this is ee-moe-boo, which is an affectionate term for Uncle here in Korea. I use this...even though he is not my uncle). I love squid since Korea opened my eyes to it. Mm. Squid.

Monday, April 12, 2010

A little more about Europe



This was my hitchhiking path that I did for my last trip - 8 Countries, and approximately 2,538 kilometres, from Istanbul, Turkey to Warsaw, Poland. 
Obviously since we (my friend Ben and I went together) were hitchhiking, we stayed in some random places - we slept outside a few nights, and also in truckers trucks a few nights as well as being taken in by some amazing people - some of this was accomplished by us walking, other places were stopped at, and side adventures were completely taken. We took 6 1/2 weeks for this whole adventure, plus I had another week beforehand in Poland for Christmas before Ben and I met up on new years eve in Turkey. It was one of the most epic journeys I have ever undertaken so far, and it made me just want to take on more; my poor parents.


Taken in Northern Turkey, right before being swarmed by a group of school kids


Sunday, April 11, 2010

To the moon and back

What a day it was today!! My friend and I set off today to go to the one salvation army we could find - second hand clothing is one of our favourites, so we combined forces to attempt to set good old things free.
There was literally nothing there, and most of it was not even second hand, so we hopped on a random bus and then hopped off again when a spot took our fancy. We ended up wandering up old alleys, catching another random bus and then subway'd it into Hongdae, one of our new favourite spots. It's the university area for the arts students, so I think that really says enough. We first went a litte crazy when we discovered the Hello Kitty cafe, which is all you could imagine it to be. Pink, cute, and different enough to go want to be there and have a coffee with your friend. Mind you, I didn't see a single guy in the joint and can't imagine too many being keen on it either.
Then we saw a sign up in the air with a drawing of a cat, saying "Cat Living'. Curiousity got the best of us, and we headed up the check it out. Turns out this is a cat cafe in the making. The grand opening is next weekend (Sat 17th/10), but they let us in to take some photos and hang out with the cats for a bit. It ruled. Hardcore ruled. We plan on going back for the grand opening to support it and take part in whatever they've got going on!

Then we headed into the central gathering area, and watching beatboxers, rappers, tapdancers, checked out some market stalls (we had just missed the swing dance expo), joined in a sing-along with a group, drank some macolie wine from this crazy, crazy vendor wheeling around selling the stuff to the crowd...ha.. and after checking out a rock lounge where you can request songs, an over-the-top karaoke building (So so bourgeois), we danced a little in the streets and then headed home tired out by a solid good adventure. I didn't even mention the sketchy tattoo place or the random lady who as sitting alone outside drinking and playing a recorder or air drummer in intervals.

Friday, April 9, 2010

a week in


You want to scare the crap out of yourself?
Go for a bike ride on the streets of Seoul.
You are competing with cars that seem to go at will, scooters and motorcycles who disregard lights, pedestrians and even go on the sidewalks as it suits them, and just an overall mayhem of city drivers who are not used to looking for bikers. Good thing I've got a bright pink helmet, I guess.

Yesterday was one of my favourite days so far; I went adventuring with a friend of a friend for the first time, and even how we met up was out of the ordinary. I was walking along looking for a payphone (good luck finding one of those on the street), and she recognised me merely because her cousin, whom I've met, told her I dressed like 'an artist'. So some girl just stops walking and points slightly mouth agape at me, and after a second realised it was each other. We then went wandering around; up old alleys where we found a super excitable puppy, 4 old ladies crouched and trying to coax a cat to come close so they could get the big sticker off it's belly, and then we even climbed up a billboard-type sign to get to the top of a huge heap of dirt. This turned out the be a construction site, and we got yelled and and chased all the while running down this sliding sediment to get back to our make-shift ladder. After dumping buckets of dirt out of both of our shoes, we wandered around a corner and realised we had entered an all boys high school. Some kids from a few floors up were yelling 'wegwegan!' which means foreigner in Korean, and then we joined in a basketball practise. The kids were all giggling as I lined up behind the completely oblivioius couch, and when it was my turn and he saw me, he just chortled, guestured like 'go ahead' and then let us join the class!

I hereby suck at basketball and can hardly make a hoop to save my life.

All this on top of a batting cage that cost 50cents for 15 hits, and a $5 korean-chinese food dinner, and it was a winner of a day!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Explore o'clock!


So the last few days have been full of exploring the city
I had my first bike ride two days ago, and went biking along the road (my heart, I admit, was racing a bit), which is definitely a little sketchier here than in Vancouver, but fun nonetheless. I also rode along the track alongside the Han river... a huge streaming mass of water that gives the city and the endless apartment and office building stretching into the sky a surreal look .. part of that I'm sure can also be attested to the haze of pollution that drifts over from China.

My friends aunt whom I'm staying with also took me to the markets when she went to grab a few things - it is nothing like the local markets I have seen anywhere. It is jam packed to the ceilings, where there is more stuff hanging. There's also no particular order; each store has a certain thing it sells, such as food or homewares, but it is all crammed in to fit in as much as possible. You ask for a certain brand however, and they know exactly where to go to get it for you.

I cannot express enough how amazingly kind the people here are. They help you at the drop of a hat, will ask someone else to help you if they can't, and if they have something to share with you (even a store owner), they are happy to do so. If you can speak any Korean whatsoever, you are even applauded and usually receive a completely gobsmacked response. It makes me think of how we treat foreigners and travellers into our contries - I know sometimes they are a little harder to spot due to our multi-cultural integration, but I hope they are treated with the same warmness and helpfulness as they treat people who come to their country.
As for some funny things that have gone on here - drinking seems to be pretty popular, and while eating lunch downstairs in the markets, a group of 4 older people had apparently been drinking soju and macoli (korea's vodka-like drink, but only 20% alcohol, and rice-wine, respectively) for the past three hours. An argument ensued, mostly being the patrons yelling at the staff and causing a ruckus until the main offender stumbled and fell face first over a chair, and was then dragged out with loud exclamations by what seemed to be her husband. Apparently, drinking here is quit popular, and they have nothing like AA in place for those who abuse it, from what I was told.

Also, the uncle who I'm staying with shares a similar taste for food with me, in that he doesn't like to eat meat, but will eat seafood. This is extremely uncommon in Korea, since most of their dishes are meat inclusive, but his reasoning was one of the craziest things I have ever heard!

He had an older brother who ate chicken, and promptly died, so his mother has never fed him any chicken whatsoever, certain that it was an allergy to the chicken that killed his brother. It was her dying wish that he never eat chicken, and he has never in his life tasted chicken and has no desire to.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Good choice!

I told these guys in Korean that they were funny, and then got this!

Yesterday, two of my friends and I went exploring in Hong-dae. 
IT IS SUCH AN AWESOME AREA. It's near the university, so things are cheap and funky, and full of life. We saw a crew called Soundbox, who were a collective of drummers and tap dancers, a band full of brass and wind instruments and an electric guitar jamming out the funk, and people, people, and more people and shops that stretch up floors and floors. The cafes are cute, the stores have stuff I've never seen before, and instead of being this one artsy strip like in most cities, it is a huge area, where you can spend so much time walking around and still keep discovering more stuff that blows you away!
Moving here was such a good decision.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

In Korea

A photo from the last time I was in Korea
So my last few days in Vancouver was a complete whirlwind to say the least. Some of my friends had fun watching me litterally run back and forth incessantly, forgetting things, remembering everything all at once, and trying to bite off way more than I could chew.
Having said that, however, I totally did it. I stayed up until 5am, packing, unpacking, weighing bags, and trying to get everything all done, but I finlly got to lay my head down for three glorious hours of sleep -  the only sleep I got until well in Korea, at my friends Aunt's house, who is so graciously hosting me for the time being. My first day in Korea was definitely epic. I met up with my best friend (who is so awesome, that she also moved to Korea for a few months!), and another friend of a friend who is in town, and we all went to the local theme park, Everland!
Holy crap that was a fun day. Rides, rides, and the official scariest rollercoaster I've ever been on.

Things are bright, busy, and fun in Korea. People are constantly taking photos of us or saying hello so they can talk some english, and I can't wait until i speak more Korean so I can joke around a bit more fluently, but am so greateful I can speak some already and read the signs and words around me. Even that little bit makes it more understandable and easier to connect.
This place is so advanced in technology that it totally throws me off guard. I have a fob to get into my apartment, the same one opens the building, the gates surrounding, and the front door, with no keys to carry around. The card that I use to pay for the bus, train, and whatever other public transit they may have around, also works in taxis, pay phone booths, and I'm sure more once I've been here longer than two days.
The house I'm staying in verbally announced when the owners car was approaching from down the street; that by far blew me away the most. Since then, I've heard that when your fridge is running low on eggs, it will even text you to ask if you want more - if you say yes, it goes ahead and orders them for you!

But then there is also that mix of old, traditional culture. You see old people who would normally be well into retirement in North America carting around wares for selling, or even just out and about moving around rather than being sedentary. They still prepare traditional Korean meals in homes, and eat Kimchi with everything (yum!), and have the craziest, cheapest street vendors selling things I have ever seem in such a large metropolitan city. Obviously, that being said, I have far from been everywhere, but I have definitely made attempts to see as much as I can around the world so far.
People do like the New Yorkers and try to sell things on the subway - yesterday was pop ballad karaoke music in the morning, shammy gloves, and previously I've seen toothbushes being sold by a man with a toupee and trying to challenge Don King to see who can wear the most amount of chunky gold rings on their fingers.

I love it here.